Jonathan Lucroy makes strides as Brewers minor-leaguer

VIERA - Now in his second season of minor-league baseball, Jonathan Lucroy understands the rigors of road trips.

On a lot of days, he spends more time on the team bus than on the field.

But he has it easy compared with his parents.

"One night, we drove over to Viera to see Jonathan play," said Lucroy's mother, Karen. "We got home at 1:30 a.m. and went to work the next day."

Lucroy has climbed through three affiliates to arrive at the Milwaukee Brewers' Brevard County team in the high Class A Florida State League.

When he was at the University of Louisiana, his parents, Steve and Karen, flew to Louisiana to watch him play. They flew to Montana to see him play rookie-league ball and to Arizona for spring training.

INTERVIEW

Former third-round pick C Jonathan Lucroy was nice enough to answer questions a few months ago, and it was very well received. I thought it would be fun to have a follow-up interview with Jonathan to see how his time in West Virginia is going. Of course, Jonathan was more than willing to do the interview. He’s someone I’ve really begun to pull for the more I’ve been in contact with him. Here’s what he had to say.

Bernie's Crew: After playing rookie ball in Helena, what is the biggest difference in moving up a level and playing against better competition in High-A West Virginia?

Jonathan Lucroy: Overall every aspect of the game is better. I have to say the pitching stands out the most. In rookie ball pitchers leave the ball up more, as well as have less experience. The pitching will get even better after the draft, just because the teams will be sending their high-round draft picks here instead of to rookie ball.

BC: All of the readers at BrewersNation know that you are hitting the ball well in WV. In fact, your slugging percentage and on-base percentage are higher than last season’s numbers already. How have you been able to adjust to better pitching so quickly?